


Cats Win. Of Course.

by FB Wickersham (perpetfic)



Series: The Blue Stones [17]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Cleaner Stones, Gen, The Blue Stones, a weird number of baby references for something i'm writing, blue stones, rat-dragons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 22:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12945876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/FB%20Wickersham
Summary: The rat-dragons are sprouting at the Davis Farm again. The cats have taken their shot, and the humans are tagged in to finish the job.





	Cats Win. Of Course.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you HugeAlienPie for the beta. This one's a prompt fill from tumblr.

Cleaner Beatrice was on the midnight to seven shift on the emergency line. It was a few minutes before four, and the night had been quiet. She checked the nursery cam from the website and smiled at the sight of Leon feeding the twins their late-night bottles. He looked tired but aware, clearly singing them something as they ate. He joked it helped their digestion. 

The emergency line rang, and Beatrice answered it while grabbing a pen. "Cleaner Beatrice. Blue Stones. How can I help?"

"This is Davis Davis."

Beatrice broke into a grin. "Mrs. Davis. How are you?"

"Old as hell and twice as ornery."

"That's fantastic. What time is it there? Six?"

"Five-fifty-eight," Mrs. Davis said. "Those big rats are back."

"How many have you seen?" Beatrice asked as she noted the time and date on the incident form. 'Rat-dragons' she wrote under reason for the call, adding 'Davis farm' after it.

"Haven't seen one yet, but I spotted my barn cats when I went to feed the chickens, and they're a mess. All goopy like last time."

Last time, there had been seven rat-dragons, five already dead by the skills of Mrs. Davis's barn cats by the time the local Blue Stones had arrived. "Did Lucy and Mel get called away?"

"Mel's on a call. Lucy asked for backup. Bless her. Don't think she got to bed before three, not with that new baby."

Beatrice glanced back at the nursery camera. "I know the feeling."

"How are your little ones?"

"Fat and happy."

"Good. Good."

Beatrice wrote a question mark in the 'amount' section of the form and glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Looks like it'll be Cleaner Ophelia headed your way."

"How's she like her coffee?"

"Black."

"Good. I can trust her."

"You know the drill, Mrs. Davis. Stay away from the barn. Don't try to fight them."

"Of course. You take care of yourself, dear."

"I will. Same to you."

Beatrice hung up and then dialed the number for Ophelia's room. After four rings, there was a half-awake groan. "Mrs. Davis has rat-dragons again. The cats have already gone for them. Mel's on a call, and Lucy requested backup."

Ophelia's groan become noticeably more coherent. "We gotta move that ley line."

"I know," Beatrice said, feeling genuinely sympathetic. She'd pulled her own share of work at the Davis farm. In most cases, being on a ley line didn't cause much issue, but Davis Davis's late husband, Hudson Davis, had been a Blue Stone, so the farm was still laced with magical energy strong enough to cause rat-dragon breakouts, among other issues. Beatrice had cleared water goblins from the faucets the day after Davis Davis had scrubbed the faucets clean. Water goblins almost always spawned in the filth of a long-neglected drain or ringed tub, not a just-bleached sink. "Be careful with Lucy. Mrs. Davis says she sounded pretty wiped."

"Is she back on caffeine yet?"

"Nope. Can't go back until the baby's weaned."

"Oh, she is gonna be a treat. Poor girl." Ophelia yawned, and Beatrice heard the bed creak. "I'm up."

"Copy that." Beatrice hung up again and went back to watching the nursery cam.

*

Ophelia came by the desk for the incident report ten minutes later. She yawned as Beatrice handed her the form and left with a lazy wave behind her. The drive from The House to Davis Farm took seven minutes on the Limnelway. Ophelia parked behind Lucy's sedan in the circle drive and walked around to the back of the house. 

Mrs. Davis was standing on her back patio, squinting towards the barn. Lucy was next to her, a baby sling draped over her shoulder. It was shimmering with layered protection spells. Ophelia walked over and took the hug Mrs. Davis offered, then bumped fists with Lucy.

"He won't sleep unless he's hanging off one of us," Lucy said, gesturing to the baby in the sling, "and Mel's on a run into town for a fire ant situation." 

"How bad?"

Lucy shrugged. "The people who called keep putting them out with a tea pitcher, so not a big colony." She gestured towards the barn. "I just got here. You wanna throw the tracking spell?"

Ophelia turned and pulled her wand from the not-space. She took a deep breath to center herself and threw the spell. It hit the barn dead center. Six green lights and three yellow lights flared. 

"Your cats are getting lazy," Ophelia said to Mrs. Davis. 

"Good. Last time it took two days to get the muck off of them, and that was after trapping 'em in the old raccoon traps."

"We'll help you set those up before we leave," Lucy said, stepping forward to take point. 

Ophelia dropped back and to her left, eyeing the green lights that signaled the live rat-dragons. They were mostly in the far right corner of the barn, but two were further out. They weren't as far out as the three dead rat-dragons. "Think they fell back from a defensive position?" she asked.

"No one's ever proven they actually think like that," Lucy said. "But if I see any signs of it, we'll go through the old research and maybe write a new paper."

"Cool."

They stepped into the barn, and Ophelia stood even with Lucy as they took in their surroundings. There were angry hisses and yowls from the left front corner. Ophelia twisted her wand twice to the left, and it illuminated. The barn cats hissed louder and shrank back. She squinted into the shadows around them. "I think one might have gotten bit." 

"Shit."

"Don't worry. I can stay and help with the cats. They don't look nearly as gross as last time."

"Small favors," Lucy muttered. "And thanks."

They took the barn in a slow sweep. Even with the green lights directing them straight to the rat-dragons, it was better to be cautious. With all the latent magic on the property, there could be an explosion of dust moths or weather gophers. Rat-dragons were a big enough problem without worrying something was going to surprise them.

There were no other signs of magic fuckery, so Ophelia and Lucy closed ranks and stepped close enough to the back right corner of the barn that Ophelia's wand lit the whole thing. 

"Oh. Ew." Lucy said, covering her mouth and nose with her free hand to try and cover the smell. 

The living rat-dragons were in a full huddle, three of them bleeding a mix of blood, magic, and slime. The rat-dragons on the outer edge caught sight of Lucy and Ophelia and screeched as they opened their mouths to attack.

Ophelia threw a blocking spell as Lucy pulled a large cage from the not-space and threw it in the air, steadying its descent with her wand. "The one on the left."

"See it," Ophelia said. She sent a burst of sparks down her wand, and the rat-dragon in question scurried backwards into its comrades. Ophelia kicked a plume of dust at another rat-dragon on the edge of spewing pus and breathed a sigh of relief when it fled back towards the group as well. 

Lucy dropped the cage, and it glowed white for a moment before turning a burnished gold. "They usually scatter."

Ophelia walked over to inspect the dead rat-dragons. "They're not usually injured." She wrinkled her nose at the smell coming off of the dead ones and pulled three largish coolers packed with ice from the not-space, along with a pair of rubber gloves. She picked up the corpses and put them in the containers, then hefted the containers back in the not-space.

"Maybe they do have an idea of defensive maneuvers," Lucy said.

"I'll note it on the report and check with Research."

"Great." Lucy waved her wand at the cage, and it lifted from the ground. She opened the not-space with her free hand and loaded the cage into it. She looked down at the baby sleeping against her chest and touched his face for a moment. "Slept right through it."

"He'll be one of us in no time," Ophelia replied with a grin. 

Lucy chuckled and turned towards the door of the bar. Mrs. Davis was standing just beyond the threshold, raccoon traps tucked under each arm. "We said stay back," Lucy said.

"I'm back," Mrs. Davis replied. "Didn't even step in the barn." 

Lucy and Ophelia shared a look. "Go home," Ophelia said to Lucy. "I can take care of the rest here. You need sleep."

"You just don't want me to get a smell of the coffee," Lucy replied, but she left with another fist bump, pausing at the barn door to hug Mrs. Davis and drop the protection spells so Mrs. Davis could kiss the baby goodbye. 

"I'll get these set up," Ophelia said, walking up to Mrs. Davis and picking up two racoon traps. "I saw them when we came in. I think one of them's injured."

"If it's Licky, he's got an old one on his ear that's never cleared up quite right."

"I hope that's what it is. Getting anything those rat-dragons drip or spew out of a wound is tricky work."

Mrs. Davis set up the other raccoon traps and then rigged all four with boiled chicken. "Well, let's clear out and let them get interested in the food. Coffee should be about ready. I can make you some eggs if you like. I've even got fake ones for when Mel comes to visit."

"Regular's fine," Ophelia replied, pulling the incident report from the not-space. "If I could borrow a pen, I can get details from you while you cook."

"That's just fine. Make sure to wipe your feet as you come into the house."

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Davis Davis was Davis Smith before she married Hudson. She took his name because 1) it was expected for the time, and 2) she hated having a boring last name. 
> 
> 2\. Hudson Davis was one of the few male Blue Stones of his generation and loved it. He was particularly adept at dealing with Organizational Demons. 
> 
> 3\. I don't think I have ever written this many children into a single story before. I know there are only 3 and none of them do anything, but that's a lot of kids from my perspective. 
> 
> 4\. Fire ants are ants that are literally made of fire. The problem is, they're like trick candles. So, you can't just douse them and be done. You gotta call in an expert.
> 
> 5\. Not a story note, but just a reminder I've got a twitter (@effbeewick) where you can keep up with me while I write. It's all active and shit nowadays.


End file.
